Strain on the Mind
by crassreine
Summary: Tezuka had a crush on his junior. A crush he knew he could have handled just fine, were it not for the voice in his head. BL. Pillar, Thrill.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Beta: NDebN

A/N: There are probably very little facts in this fic, because I did no research. And it will be told entirely from Tezuka's point of view.

* * *

He was in hell. There was no other explanation for the situation he was in now.

Or it could be a nightmare. That might be even more believable then the 'being in hell' thing.

Yes, he was having a nightmare. But it was such a lovely nightmare to have.

No, bad Tezuka! Don't think like that! It was a terrible nightmare! Not even that, it had absolutely no effect on him, none what so ever. The fact that Echizen was pressing against him in a narrow space, lips slightly parted, the boy's breath tickling his neck, had no effect on him.

"Buchou." Echizen said.

"Hnn." Tezuka answered, because he did not trust his voice. And despite all his reasoning's, it could be highly possible, that this wasn't a nightmare, that he was, in fact, trapped in a small cupboard in the art classroom, because Fuji felt playful.

"Any idea on how to get out of here?"

"Hnn."

"I'll take that as a no, then, Buchou."

"Aah."

"Hmm." Echizen glanced at him, eyes half closed. Tezuka had to suppress a groan. He really needed to move away, soon, if he did not wish Echizen to find out just how happy he was to be this near to the boy again since they started going to school in separate buildings, because he seriously doubted Echizen would buy the whole 'I have a banana in my pocket' excuse.

"I really don't wanna be here when the next class starts." Echizen said.

"Hnn."

"Cause I really don't think it will do any good to neither of our reputations to be caught in the famous making out closet by the teacher and a whole class. Which I think, just happens to be my class." Echizen sighed, and Tezuka heard himself let out a small sound of desperation. "You alright, Buchou? Are you afraid of closed spaces?"

"No!" Tezuka realized he had squealed the answer, and cleared his throat. "Grmh, no, I'm fine Echizen."

"You sure, cause you seem tense."

"I'm fine." Great, his voice was squeaking again. He had to get out, now!

"Look Buchou, I know you think I shouldn't have come back."Echizen sounded depressed. "And you're probably disappointed in me right now, or hate me."

He could never hate Echizen! Why would the boy even think that?

"You haven't even once looked at me since I decided to come back, and that's almost two months ago. But I just didn't fit in at America anymore, and I…"

Maybe that might have caused Echizen to think that he hated the kid. It was true, he had been avoiding Echizen at every coast, but not for the reason Echizen thought.

It helped, that they were in separate schools, he in high school, and Echizen at junior high. That wasn't going to be an option next year, when Echizen would graduate. It was already hard, not to bump in to Echizen, when Fuji and Kikumaru insisted on arranging get-togethers for the former regulars almost every weekend, and sometimes during the week. And Oishi always seemed to manage to convince him to join them, and if that didn't work, they sent Inui. Tezuka always caved, in the end, if not for Oishi's pleading, than because he simply wanted to shut Inui up. Too bad Inui never called him; he could've just hung up. But the data man, it seemed, had learned his lesson when it came to him, Tezuka and phones.

"And I am really sorry."

"What do you mean, Echizen?"

"Well, this might be my fault." Echizen shifted, his leg brushed against Tezuka's groin, and Tezuka tried to back away, only to bump against the shelves. He only gained about a centimetre of space. Still, it was better than nothing.

"How could it be your fault that Fuji decided to shove us in to the supply cabinet?" It probably was just a spur of the moment thing from Fuji, anyway. Seigaku's junior high, and high school did share some class rooms because of the lack of space, and the art class room happened to be one of them. The fact that Tezuka's class was almost instantly followed by Echizen's class, just seemed to show that the universe loved Fuji, and had a sense of humour just as twisted as Fuji's.

"I might've said something to Fuji-sempai, that I thought you were avoiding me, or something, and he probably…"

"Just thought he was helping you by shoving us in a small space where we would have nothing else to do but talk." Tezuka finished for the kid.

If Fuji had known how Tezuka felt about Echizen, this might have all been avoided. No, that didn't sound right. Fuji would have done it anyway. Probably much more eagerly, too.

"I do not hate you, Echizen, or resent you for the choices you have made." He finally said. "And despite what you might think, I haven't been avoiding you." Well, if he wasn't in hell, he was going there for lying, if he believed the Christian that lived next door to them.

"Really Buchou!" Echizen beamed, and Tezuka felt light headed. He might have even smiled goofily, if the door hadn't opened.

"Tezuka, Echizen, I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, but Fuji just told me what he did. Are you alright?" Oishi asked.

"We are fine, thank you Oishi." Tezuka told him, more grateful then ever before that he had a friend like Oishi.

"Tezuka-sempai, Oishi-sempai! What are you doing here?" Tomoka asked from the doorway. Other students, Echizen's classmates were starting to arrive in the classroom.

"Just came by to see Echizen." Oishi told her. "We should be going now, right Tezuka?"

"Aah." Tezuka nodded. He bent down to pick his bag that was on the floor, in front of the closet, and placed it strategically in front of him. Oishi glanced at his face, questioningly. Even though Tezuka's face remained stoic, Oishi seemed to guess the reason for the bag's position, and suppressed a smile. Somehow, the look on Oishi's face was a mixture of amusement, horror and worry. How it was possible to display such a variation of emotions at once was a mystery to Tezuka.

* * *

"Oishi, please stop." Tezuka pleaded.

"Sorry Tezuka, but…" Oishi tried, but couldn't suppress his laughter any longer. As soon as they were out of the building, Oishi doubled over, leaned on the wall for support, and laughed so hard that his eyes watered. "I just… he hee… couldn't believe it when Fuji told me he'd… Ha ha haa!"

"Yes, I'm sure I would find it just as amusing if I were you."

"Okay, done now." Oishi informed him, took one look at his bag that was still placed in front of his crotch and started giggling again. "I don't even want to think what Fuji would've done if he'd known you have a crush on Echizen."

"Probably the same thing," Tezuka stated. "Only he would have given me some form of lubrication, I think."

"You don't need to sound so hopeful Tezuka." Oishi frowned.

"I don't! Oishi, will you take this seriously! I almost… " Tezuka blushed. It was maddening, how much Echizen affected him, even when he wasn't around. Now he was blushing! Tezuka was sure he hadn't blushed ever before in his whole life, not before Echizen showed up in his life again.

"It will pass in time, Tezuka." Oishi comforted him. "It's just a teenage crush. You'll grow out of it, eventually."

"Yes well, I'm more worried about now, Oishi."

"Just make sure to keep your distance from him."

It must be nice to be Oishi. He didn't have to suffer being Fuji's favourite object of torture. "It's not that easy. Echizen still thinks of me as a… I really don't know what, but he's noticed that I avoid him, and it has troubled him. He talked about it with Fuji, and Fuji being Fuji decided to help and lock us up in the supply closet."

"Well, I don't know how much of a comfort this will be, but Fuji wasn't planning on humiliating you. He told me just in time to get you out before anyone else might have found you." Oishi said. "School will be over soon, but we still have a couple of classes left. You sure you're going to be alright, with… Grmh… You know."

"It's fine. I just have to remember the time I saw my grandmother bathing."

"That's gross, Tezuka."

"Well, that's the whole point, isn't it, Oishi?"

* * *

"Did you at least talk to Echizen?" Fuji asked him.

"Yes." Tezuka was not happy at all that Fuji was in the same class as him, and that the tensai had chosen to sit next to him at every single class.

"I'm glad. It really has been bothering him, you know." Why was Fuji trying to have a conversation with him, when they were in math class? Didn't he realize that some people actually needed to concentrate in class in order to learn something? Not everyone had been born a genius. "Every time we try to have fun, and your name shows up, he gets depressed. I really don't like it when something is bothering those I care about."

"We worked it out." Tezuka said, hoping that would satisfy Fuji, and make him shut up, and focus on the teacher.

"Good, maybe now he won't be distracted when we go to the amusement park later."

"You are going to the amusement park?" Tezuka asked, despite his earlier resolve to concentrate on the class, and filter Fuji out.

"Yes, I thought we could do something special to mark the day. Echizen of course just wanted to play tennis."

"Mark the day?"

"Well, we've been going out for a month today."

Tezuka grunted, and hoped Fuji didn't see the shock in his face. He focused his eyes on the teacher, but didn't hear anything.

* * *

He should be happy. Happy that Fuji and Echizen were dating and were happy. He shouldn't feel miserable, or plan ways to separate the two. And it was highly unlikely that Echizen would dump Fuji for free Ponta. Or that he could somehow convince Inui to make a juice that would cause cat allergy and then trick Fuji to drink it.

"Ah, Tezuka-kun. How are you?" Their neighbour greeted him, as he was about to turn to their drive way.

"Fine Matsuda-san. And how are you?" He asked the man, who was carrying a plate of cookies.

"Just going to the congregations bake sale. I made some cookies, would you like to taste them? I'm not sure if the young people will like them, since they're not very sweet." The man smiled broadly, so that the lines in the corner of his eyes deepened.

Tezuka took a cookie from the plate. "So, how are they?" Matsuda-san asked him.

"Delicious," Tezuka answered, even though he hardly tasted anything. His mind was too occupied with thoughts of Fuji and Echizen. He should remember that Fuji was his friend and Echizen was just… Something much more.

* * *

"You are coming with us, right Tezuka?" Fuji asked.

"Sorry, wasn't listening." Tezuka, who had been busy poking at his lunch, said. He was sitting next to Fuji, Oishi and Kikumaru sat across from them, reading some book together.

"I was just saying that I want you to come with me and Echizen tonight, when we are going with Yuuta to play some tennis. I thought it might be interesting to see how well Echizen and I could do as a doubles team. You could be Yuuta's partner."

"I don't know, Fuji. I have some catching up to do with my math." The last thing he wanted to see was Fuji and Echizen acting as a couple.

"Come on, Tezuka. It'll be fun, I promise. And I'll help out if you have problems with math."

Tezuka glanced at Oishi for help but it seemed that the book was really good, since his friend didn't even glance up. If he refused now, Fuji would want to know why. The math wasn't going to work as an excuse, not anymore, since Fuji had offered his help. "Fine, I'll come." He finally conceded.

* * *

He met them all at the park, an hour or so, after school. Fuji had his cheery smile plastered over his face, his brother didn't seem all that pleased to be there, and Tezuka couldn't tell what Echizen was thinking, since he had pulled his cap down so it shadowed his face.

"So, everyone ready?" Fuji asked, and sneaked an arm around Echizen, who just stood there, passively, allowing the arm to stay in place, not bothered at all. Yuuta, on the other hand, was bothered.

"Aniki, would you please not do that? There are people around here."

"What? I'm not doing anything inappropriate." Fuji said, while his hand shifted lower. "Yet," he said right before he pinched Echizen's butt.

Echizen yelped and swatted Fuji. "Stop it, Fuji-sempai." But he was smiling, and didn't seem to mind all that much.

"Aniki! Echizen, you're only encouraging him!" Yuuta groaned.

"Fine, fine, I'll behave for you, Yuuta. But I can't make promises for Echizen-kun." Fuji lifted both his hands up, palms facing Yuuta.

"Echizen?" Yuuta asked pleadingly.

"I promise I won't pinch Fuji-sempai's butt." Echizen smirked.

The statement left him a lot of other things to do, and Yuuta seemed to know it, judging by his groan. Fuji just grinned proudly. Tezuka wished he was somewhere else.

"Let's just go already." Yuuta sighed and started walking away from the park.

None of them noticed the boy on the skateboard, and the boy didn't notice them. The boy crashed in to Yuuta, knocking him to the ground, while the boy himself slammed into a nearby car. The skateboard almost smacked Echizen in the head, but Tezuka managed to pull him out of the way.

"Yuuta!" Fuji yelled and ran to his brother, who was clutching his knee.

Tezuka knew he needed to let go of Echizen, go see how Yuuta was, or the other boy, but he couldn't make himself move. His hand was around Echizen's shoulders, and the boy's face was buried in his neck. He was sure Echizen could hear his heart, the sound of its beat was thundering in Tezuka's ears. Echizen's breath on his neck sent shivers through his body, Echizen's hands pressed against his chest felt as they were burning through his coat and shirt. It was almost as if there wasn't any fabric between his skin and Echizen's palms.

Echizen's cap had been thrown away, his hair tickled Tezuka's face. He almost lost it, almost buried his head in Echizen's hair and pulled the boy even closer to him. His hand moved slowly, releasing Echizen, sliding on the boy's shoulders, his fingers brushing the boy's neck. Echizen lifted his gaze just then, eyes glinting gold as the sunlight hit them, lips parted, tinge of red colouring his cheeks.

It would have been so easy to forget everything else, curl his fingers around Echizen's neck, bend down and kiss the lips that he'd been dreaming for so long, even before they parted ways, when it was even more wrong for him to feel what he felt now. Echizen had been only twelve, and he had been his captain. Echizen was only two years older now, but it seemed to be a big difference. But now, Echizen was with Fuji.

The thought of Fuji brought Tezuka back to reality, and he stepped hurriedly back, away from Echizen, away from temptation.

He glanced at the scene. Only a few seconds had passed, when it had seemed like more to Tezuka. Fuji was just bending over Yuuta, and the kid with the skateboard was getting up, bewildered and wide eyed.

Echizen just picked up his cap and walked over to Fuji and his brother. It seemed he hadn't noticed anything strange with Tezuka's behaviour. Which was a good thing.

"I'm so sorry!" The boy who had caused the accident rushed over to Yuuta. "Are you alright? I'm sorry!"

The Fuji's and Echizen ignored him, focusing their attention on Yuuta's knee. His sand coloured pants were red from blood and his cheek had been scraped bloody from the ground. "There's a piece of glass on the ground that probably cut your knee when you fell," Echizen pointed out. "You should go to the hospital."

"I'll call a cab! I'll pay for it!" the skateboarder said and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll pay the hospital bill, I mean my dad will. I don't know! I'll take care of it! I'm so sorry!" The kid was still panicking when he talked to the phone, so Tezuka took the phone from him, and said where to send the cab.

When the cab came, the boy had calmed down, but was still worried and apologetic.

"There isn't much room in the cab." Fuji said. "I'll take Yuuta to the hospital."

"I'm coming too, it's all my fault!" The skateboarder declared.

"Okay, call me when you get back from the hospital," Echizen told Fuji. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Here's your skateboard." Tezuka gave the kid his skateboard back. He clutched it, like it was his lifeline.

"I'll see you too tomorrow, Tezuka."

The cab drove of, and Tezuka found himself alone with Echizen. It was almost as he had planned it. That is, if he was an all knowing all powerful being with a sadistic streak. That sounded more like Fuji than him. When the hell had he started to associate Fuji with deities?

"_Probably the same time you started listening to your Christ worshipping neighbour."_

"Probably," Tezuka said.

"What Buchou?" Echizen asked.

Tezuka looked at him, realizing Echizen had not spoken. How could he have? The kid couldn't read minds, right? Well who the hell had spoken?

_"A figment of your imagination, of course, one that you have created because of your emotional crisis. And don't worry; you're not crazy, yet anyway. But me showing up, clearly indicates that a nervous breakdown is on the horizon, and not very far, either."_ The voice chuckled.

Tezuka lifted his gaze to the chuckle and saw Atobe, wearing a pink suit. He choked on air. If that was a figment of his imagination, then why the hell did it look and sound like Atobe?

_"Apparently you associate me with everything that has to do with pleasure. I am flattered that you would think that of me, Tezuka," _the apparition purred. _"You have been suppressing your own desires for a very long time now, haven't you? It really isn't healthy, Tezuka."_

Tezuka closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. He felt a warm touch on his arm and opened his eyes to look at Echizen. "You alright, Buchou?"

_"Look at that. So sweet, how concerned he is for you. To bad for you, that he'd feel the same no matter who it was. You would have liked if it was you pinching his butt earlier, wouldn't you? Or you he was thinking of when he smirks with that glint in his eyes. You know what I mean, don't you Tezuka? Of course you do. I'm in your mind, remember."_

Tezuka cleared his throat. "I'm fine Echizen. Just… hungry, I guess."

"Let's go eat then. It could take a while before they get out of the hospital." Echizen suggested.

"Alright," Tezuka answered. "You have a place in mind?"

"They sell good burgers around the corner."

"Fine." Echizen took the lead, and Tezuka walked a little behind him.

"_Nice thinking. You can look at his butt better this way. Isn't it just delicious the way he swings his hips?" _

It really was a nice view… What? No! He couldn't think that! And he didn't remember Atobe being this lecherous, either.

_"He probably isn't."_ The apparition shrugged. _"But I'm not him, remember? I'm a figment of your imagination. And believe me, you can be very perverted. I'm proof of that."_

There really was no arguing with that.

They arrived at the burger joint, and Echizen ordered meals for them both. After they'd paid for them, they took a booth by the window. He wasn't sure why, but Tezuka felt a little uncomfortable when Atobe sat next to Echizen.

_"It's because you'd like to be sitting here."_ Fine, that might be true. Still, he didn't like it, and wanted Atobe to move. The apparition just smirked, and leaned comfortably back. _"Don't think I will."_ He watched silently as Atobe leaned to blow on Echizen's ear, while looking at him. Echizen just unwrapped his burger and took a bite from it. _"He eats with such vigour. I wonder if he kisses just as hungrily."_

Tezuka just wanted Atobe to shut the fuck up. _"Your wish is my command."_ Tezuka watched in silent horror as Atobe leaned over to Echizen again, cupped his chin and licked the boy's cheek, from jaw to the corner of his eye. Atobe licked his lips, as if he'd tasted something sweet, and kissed the boy's throat next, and started nipping at it with his teeth. The hand that had cupped the boy's chin moved slowly downwards, caressing the T-shirt covered chest. When the hand disappeared under the table, Echizen dropped his burger.

"Aren't you eating, Buchou?" Echizen asked, and took some fries and stuffed them in his mouth.

Atobe kept on smirking at him, head now resting on Echizen's shoulder, the other hand still on the boy's crotch, and the other on Echizen's other shoulder, drawing lazy patterns on the neck.

"I have to… Bathroom!" Tezuka rushed through the restaurant, towards the men's room. He locked the door behind him, and leaned on it. He nearly had a heart attack when Atobe stepped through the door.

_"A figment of your imagination, remember?"_ Atobe quirked an eyebrow, and stepped over to the mirror, to flip his hair. _"You think I should go blonde? Light brown is starting to go out of fashion, I hear, and I think I'd look great as a blonde."_

"Don't do that again!" Tezuka growled.

_"Do what?"_ Atobe smirked._ "Walk through walls, or arrange a show?"_

"You know! And neither!"

_"It would do you well to remember that I am not real, and you do not need to voice out your thoughts for me to understand them. If you're not careful, people might think you're insane."_ Atobe laughed. _"Oh hell! Who are we kidding? You're a complete nutter! I mean, look at me! No sane person creates a figure just to express their lust!"_

* * *

A/N: I know very little about psychology and as stated above did no research. Comments, critique?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: To Nothing: Thank you for pointing that out and if you read this and notice me doing the same, I hope you'll tell me. And to Lexi: Very true.

* * *

"How do I get rid of you?" Tezuka asked, leaning on the bathroom door.

The apparition that looked unmistakably like Atobe wasn't looking at him. Instead it was styling its hair in front of the mirror. _"Now that's it, right there. You're going about it in the wrong way. What you need to focus on is why I exist in the first place." _

"You exist, because… because I…"

"_You suppress everything, that's why, Kunimitsu-kun." _

"Hey, don't get too familiar!"

"_That's funny Kunimitsu. Remember who I am." _

"You're Atobe."

_"No, I just look like him. A dashingly good looking guy, by the way."_ Atobe number two flipped his hair, and smirked at his own reflection.

"You even act like him, the pompous ass."

"_Bet you never told him that, though. Actually, I know you didn't, and that's part of the problem you have here. But the real reason I'm here… If you'd just nail the brat, there wouldn't be any reason for my existence." _

"So you're telling me I have to… you know… to get rid of you."

_"Wow, you're prude even when talking to the manifestation of your desires. Well, it's not exactly news to me, but still…"_ Atobe shook his head in disappointment.

"Well, I'm not doing it."

_"Follow your desires, Kunimitsu-kun, you'll feel a lot better, I promise."_

"No."

_"Sigh. I think I'll just have to put on another show for you. Such a burden." Atobe smirked, and flipped his hair again._

"Why did you just say sigh, instead if just sighing?"

_"It's a style thing. You wouldn't understand."_

* * *

Tezuka eventually came back to the table, poked his fries, and sipped his soda. Atobe had taken his seat next to Echizen again, and was amusing himself by idly twirling the boy's hair. It really shouldn't have bothered him. Atobe was, like he said, just a figment of his imagination. The beginning sign of his madness.

Now that should have bothered him. Strangely it didn't. He was just jealous.

_"Come on, Kunimitsu-kun. You know you want to."_ Atobe purred at Echizen's ear.

He wasn't doing it. Echizen was his junior, he still looked up to Tezuka, took him as someone to respect. Echizen needed an example, a figure he could look up to, and had chosen him.

Echizen was two years younger, still only fourteen. _"That hasn't stopped Fuji though, has it? And I don't see Echizen fighting him off. I don't think he's as innocent as you think."_

He was with Fuji, and Fuji was Tezuka's friend. _"But the brat is yours. Admit it, that's what you're really thinking, isn't it?"_

Fine, yes, Echizen was his obsession first. Fuji had no right budding in! _"That's the spirit! Now kiss the brat!"_

Yes! Kiss Echizen! What?! No! He couldn't do that, ruin everything, fail everyone.

"_God you're angsty!" _

"Am not!"

"Buchou?" Echizen frowned at him, looking a bit worried.

"Nothing Echizen."

"Hnn."

_"Figment of your imagination, Kunimitsu-kun." _Atobe said, in a singsong voice.

Why did it have to be Atobe? Couldn't he have imagined someone else, like Oishi, to be the personification of lust?

"_Oh please, you'd have gone nuts in a second! Wait, you're already crazy. Never mind, return to your angsting." _

* * *

Tezuka was walking beside Echizen on their way to the train station. Fuji had called just when they were leaving the restaurant, and Echizen had said that Yuuta was fine. Only the skin had been damaged, the cut wasn't too deep, and even his cheek should heal just fine.

Tezuka glanced at Atobe, who had conjured himself a pink drink with an umbrella. Every now and then Atobe would stop and admire his reflection in the shop windows, but unfortunately was never far behind them.

Maybe it was all a dream, after all. Echizen was in America, he wasn't dating Fuji, there was no Christian living next door to him, and he wasn't seeing Atobe everywhere. The thought was comforting, and Tezuka decided to test the theory.

_"I really don't think you should,"_ Atobe told him.

"You wouldn't," Tezuka said out loud.

"Sure you're alright, Buchou?" Echizen asked.

"I need you to do something for me, Echizen."

"_So not recommending this."_

"What Buchou?"

"Hit me."

"What?!"

"Hit me," Tezuka repeated. It was the only way he could think of, that would proof this wasn't a dream.

"I'm not going to hit you, Buchou," Echizen said, and started walking a bit faster than before. Tezuka followed him.

"Just one punch, Echizen."

"No!"

"_Nice job, Kunimitsu. Now he thinks you're crazy. Which you are. But still, you didn't have to tell him that, now he's never going to sleep with you." _

"Hit me Echizen!"

"No Buchou!"

"I'll be happy to hit you, Tezuka." Atobe told him.

"Wouldn't work," Tezuka said. Funny, how Atobe had changed out of the pink suit. "You're just a figment of my imagination, remember?"

"Buchou?" Echizen was frowning at him.

Next thing he knew, he was knocked out by the figure he had thought was the figment of his imagination.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of two voices arguing.

"You didn't have to hit him so hard!"

"He was asking for it. Besides, he called me a figment of his imagination. I'm not sure, but I think it was his attempt at an insult."

"That wasn't an insult. This is an insult; you're an asshole!"

"How very original, brat."

"Wasn't trying to be witty, Monkey King."

"Never even dreamed you were."

Tezuka opened his eyes, and groaned when he saw Echizen arguing with Atobe, and another Atobe smirking at the two of them. So, he wasn't dreaming. He really was going insane.

_"Not yet. But you might, if you don't get over your high morals soon."_ The second Atobe told him.

"Will you just shut up!" Tezuka yelled, clutching his head. He took another glance at Echizen and Atobe, who were looking at him worriedly. He realized neither of them had spoken since he had groaned, and were probably wondering who he was telling to shut up.

"_You just keep digging that grave for yourself, Kunimitsu. Before you know it, you'll be locked up in a mental institute, and not even drugs can get rid of me, I promise." _

"Tezuka?" Atobe offered his hand to him. "You alright? You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"_Well isn't he just precious? He just decked you, and now asks if you hit your head, like it had nothing to do with him." _

"Of course he hit his head! You just punched him!" Echizen shouted, but frowned worriedly right after. "But he's been like that all day. Probably not your fault."

"I'm going home." Tezuka informed them, and ignored Atobe's offered hand. He couldn't deal with two Atobe's right now, even one was a bit too much, and being around Echizen right now wasn't a good thing either, not when he had someone in is head telling him to succumb to temptation.

"Tezuka!"

"Buchou!"

The two yelled after him, but their worried voices only caused Tezuka to quicken his pace. When he finally arrived home, it was already evening since he had decided to walk, instead of taking the bus. Atobe was walking beside him, humming some song that sounded vaguely familiar, even if he couldn't place it.

Tezuka started running, when he saw flashing blue lights in front of his house. Why were the police at his home? He hoped nothing had happened to his family.

With relief he realized that the police was not in front of his house, but their neighbour's. He watched confusedly as the Christian man was lead to the police car, handcuffed. Matsuda-san noticed Tezuka, and waved at him cheerily, despite his restraints.

"Ah Tezuka." Inui appeared next to him. "Interesting isn't it. I heard from my aunt. She's the cleaning lady at the police station."

"What is?" Tezuka asked.

"So you haven't heard? It seems your neighbour is a criminal mastermind. He has been able to create a drug that affects the adolescent mind in an interesting way, causing hallucinations that bring up moral issues. He has been distributing the drug for a few days now."

_"Looks like you might not be insane, after all."_

"You haven't accepted anything from him, have you Tezuka?"

"It was just a cookie," Tezuka muttered, staring at the cheery and probably insane man in the back of the police car.

"Hmm. This will be interesting data."

"What?"

"Would you mind explaining the symptoms to me?" Inui had whipped out his notebook, pen poised.

"I'm not in the mood for your data gathering right now, Inui." Tezuka frowned at Inui.

"Come now Tezuka. I might be able to help. Unless you wish to inform the authorities that you have been exposed? I hear they are locking up the victims for further study, sticking needless in them, dissecting brains." The glasses gleamed and the pen looked threatening in Inui's hand.

Tezuka gulped. "Would you like some tea?" He asked, and directed Inui inside.

* * *

They were in Tezuka's room, Inui sitting beside the desk, in Tezuka's chair, while Tezuka himself had seated on the bed. Atobe was leaning against the door, sniffing at a rose. It was pink, like the suit and the drink from before. Why was everything that he associated Atobe with, pink? _"Because it looks good on me, of course. You have a surprisingly good eye for colours. Maybe you should study to become an interior designer."_ Great, now he was getting career advice from his sub consciousness. Career advice that seemed… Surprisingly plausible. Maybe he would become an interior designer. That is, if he for some reason decided that tennis wasn't for him. Like that was ever going to happen. _"Well I did try."_ Atobe sighed, and Tezuka snorted.

"Did I say something funny?" Inui inquired.

"No, I was just… Debating with myself."

"Ah. So tell me, who do you see?"

For a moment, Tezuka was awed by Inui's deduction skills. "Atobe. In a pink suit." He answered. Somehow, the pink suit felt important. Or maybe it just irked him. "How did you know I see someone?"

"The symptoms have so far included hallucinations of a person that the victims consider as their moral guardian. I find it interesting that you would appoint Atobe to the task. And in a pink suit, no less."

_"What is he, completely clueless? You'd think he'd have figured from the beginning that your problems are reverse. I'm sure everyone can see just how anal you really are."_

"Would you please stop insulting me?"

"Tezuka, even if you have been exposed to a mind altering drug, it is still very unsettling to see you glare at empty space."Inui corrected his glasses and scribbled something on his notebook. "Now, back to the matter at hand. You are no doubt aware that your neighbour is a devoted Christian. What you probably did not know, that he is also considered as a mad scientist. He used to work as a researcher at a pharmaceutical company, but soon his own believes came in the way of his work. He became to research ways to influence the mind so that people would not commit acts of fornication, as he puts it. His work was soon discovered, and he was fired, but it seems he has been continuing his work on his own. It is rather genius work, actually, the way the drug affects the adolescent brain so that it forces them to debate moral issues, mostly focusing on sex. It appears it has no or little affect on the adult brain. Whether that was deliberate or not, is unclear. Still, you must admit how-"

"We are not here to form a fan club for him, Inui." Tezuka interrupted him.

"Yes, of course not. I apologize. Judging by earlier observations the drug should not have affected you. Despite the fact that you are a normal teenager, you have always seemed to be in perfect control of your hormones. The fact that you see Atobe puzzles me. Can you offer me any more data?"

Tezuka cleared his throat nervously. "He isn't my moral guardian. He's more like... Encouraging me to sin."

"That makes more sense. You have always seemed a little too repressed for your own good."

_"Finally, a voice of reason, besides my own!"_

"You have apparently chosen a familiar figure from the people around you to represent decadence. Interesting, that you chose Atobe. Do you perhaps have feelings for him?"

"What?! No! I hate that arrogant prick!" Tezuka yelled, his irritation towards the actual Atobe being heightened by the one in his head, who was giggling to himself after causing Tezuka's outburst. No doubt it found it funny.

"Well, I can't say that I blame you. He is a fairly attractive man."

"_Fairly attractive? Now that is insulting." _

"What do you care, you're not real."

_"True, it shouldn't bother me. But it does."_

"Tezuka, are you speaking with him now? Would you mind telling me what he is saying?"

"He thinks it's insulting that you think of him as only fairly attractive."

"_I am far more then merely fairly attractive."_

"He's more than just fairly attractive."

"_There are poems written of my beauty."_

"There are poems written of his beauty."

"_People have fainted at the sight of my greatness."_

"People have fainted at the sight of his greatness."

"_And you want to make sweet love to Ryoma."_

"And I want to make sweet love to Ryoma." He heard paper tearing and saw that Inui's pen had gone through paper, ripping a page in the notebook and his mouth was hanging open. That's when Tezuka realised just what exactly he'd said. He glared at Atobe, who just smirked conceitedly. "You did not just hear that." He told Inui.

"I did not just hear that." Inui agreed, while his pen kept scribbling.

The silence seemed to stretch on endlessly and Atobe started humming again, leaning on the door, inspecting his nails. Then he grabbed a nail file from thin air and started doing his nails. When Atobe started opening a bottle of nail polish Tezuka's twitch had taken over half his face.

"So, Echizen ha?" Inui asked, preventing Tezuka from screaming to the apparition.

"I thought we agreed you did not hear that?" Tezuka said.

"I would be more than happy to comply with you on that, but I'm afraid that if I am going to help you, I can not ignore this particular piece of information." Inui scanned through the few recent pages of his notebook and cleared his throat. "The fact that it is Echizen who is the object of your desires, is most likely the biggest problem for you, am I right? If it had been someone of your own age or older, you would not have a problem with it. Then there is of course the fact that he is a boy. Are you not comfortable with your sexuality? My uncle is a therapist that might be able to help you with that. He was a great help to me when I was questioning my sexuality. Would you like his number?"

"No thank you Inui. I have no problem with being gay."

"So I was correct, it is a matter of Echizen's age. But two years is hardly a decade, and Echizen has matured remarkably in these three years we have known him."

_"Like you hadn't noticed. He isn't going to be any help, you know. You'd be better of with my suggestion. Just grab the kid and have your way with him."_

"The simplest solution of course, would be to confess your feelings to Echizen," Inui repeated Atobe's suggestion, but with words that didn't make it sound so perverted.

"That is out of the question," Tezuka answered to both of them.

"You fear being rejected? That is only natural, of course, but suppressing everything will only make it worse."

"You don't know?"

"_I thought he was the data-man." _

"Know what?" Inui asked.

"Echizen is dating Fuji." Tezuka told him and had the pleasure of seeing Inui's pen fall to the floor, along with his jaw.

"Ech… Fu… E… Dating?" Inui managed to finish one understandable word. "Ii data…" He murmured, retrieved his pen and began scribbling. "It makes sense if you take to account the behaviour pattern of the subjects…. Wind speed… The strength of the twig… Time lapsed between…"

What the hell did the strength of a twig, or wind speed have to do with Echizen and Fuji dating?

"_No idea, but I could make a few interesting guesses." _

Tezuka wasn't particularly interested to know how Atobe's mind worked so that he could come up with interesting guesses. Wait, it really wasn't Atobe he was talking about, was it? No, this Atobe was his creation, which meant that the guesses had originated in his mind and meant actually he had made the conclusions and –

"Oh just shut up!" He yelled when Atobe started giggling.

"I'm sorry Tezuka, but this is new data and I must calculate the probabilities and-"

"Sure, do that, but first, tell me how long will it take until the drug wears off?"

"According to my sources about a week."

A week. He could do that. He'd just avoid Echizen for a week.

His phone beeped, indicating a new message; _'Don't forget about our game tomorrow, Buchou.'_

Atobe's laughter sounded ominous.

* * *

A/N: I know even less about how the human brain works, than I do about psychology.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This chapter took longer than I thought. Well, hope you enjoy.

* * *

Echizen had arrived before him and by the looks of his sweaty forehead, had already warmed up. Tezuka, who had jogged to the court, simply stopped to get his racket and remove his pants to reveal his shorts before taking his place across the boy on the other side of the net. Echizen nodded to him and Tezuka took out a ball from his pocket.

Tezuka pounced the ball, "_you want to pounce Echizen," _Atobe whispered next to his ear in a purring voice.

Tezuka threw the ball, "_you want to throw Echizen to the ground." _

Tezuka smacked the ball with his racket, "_you want to smack Echizen on the butt."_

The ball hit the net, "_that's a difficult one. Hit on Echizen?"_

Tezuka took another ball and served. Thankfully, this time he was spared from Atobe's narration. Maybe the guy didn't believe in repeating himself?

They rallied for a while and then Tezuka lobbed the ball and Echizen jumped, preparing to hit a smash. Tezuka was ready to return the smash when Atobe spoke, _"Oh yes, that's what I'm talking about. Look at that, how his shirt rises up when he jumps, revealing those gorgeous abs. Don't you just ache to trail your tongue along those muscles?" _

Despite himself, Tezuka looked. And couldn't tear his eyes away. He completely forgot about the ball heading towards him in high speed, eyes locked on Echizen's revealed stomach, from where his gaze travelled to his thighs, arms, neck, lips-

SMACK

"Buchou!"

Tezuka pressed a hand on his eye, glaring accusingly at Atobe with the other one. If only Atobe was real, he'd be dead. _"You wound me, Kunimitsu-kun," _Atobe smirked, toasting him with his pink drink.

Tezuka grunted and tried to get up, but then Echizen was there, kneeling beside him. "Buchou, you alright? I'm sorry, I…" Echizen frowned. "Well actually, it was your own fault. Are you sick? You've been weird."

Echizen pressed a hand on his forehead and leaned in closer. Tezuka gasped and took hold of Echizen's wrist, wrapping his fingers around it. He felt Echizen's rapid heart beat under his fingers, no doubt from the game, and Echizen's breath was warm against his cheek. "You don't…" Echizen cleared his throat, a blush rose on his cheeks. "You don't have a fever. Buchou," the boy breathed the last word like it was an intimate nickname between lovers, and all Tezuka could manage to get out was,

"Grmph."

"Buchou**,**" Echizen breathed again.

"Hmh?" He was mesmerized by the intense look in the boy's eyes. It felt good to touch the boy, even if it was just the wrist. Still it was more than he had hoped for, more than he knew was safe.

"Maybe you should go home," Echizen suggested and tried to get up, but Tezuka's hold on his wrist kept him kneeling. Echizen looked at the fingers around his wrist and at Tezuka. "Buchou?" he asked, licking his lips.

Tezuka released his hold. "I'm sorry Echizen, I… You are right. Maybe I should just go home," he said and got up, hurrying to his bag, not bothering to put his pants on. He just stuffed his things on his bag as quickly as possible.

Echizen kept staring after him. Tezuka knew that, because he felt the boy's gaze on his back as he left, right up until he turned a corner. The pressure of the eyes now gone, he leaned against the wall of a building and clutched his pants that he'd been dragging behind him. He couldn't do it, betray his friendship with Fuji, but neither could he stand being so close to Echizen anymore and not have him. What other options did he have?

"_You have none,"_ Atobe decided to speak up. _"If you keep this up, he will eventually think you do hate him."_

That was it then, wasn't it? He could bare it. At least he wouldn't hurt anyone.

"_I wonder if even you believe that."_

* * *

Tezuka decided he should avoid Fuji. And Inui. Too bad he shared his classes with them. A fact he seemed to have forgotten when he made his decision to avoid them. Not to mention the fact that they were both members of the same tennis club.

"Are you avoiding Fuji, Tezuka?" Kikumaru leaned over to ask in the middle of the class.

"No. Why would you say that?" Tezuka asked, eyes on his notebook where he was drawing Echizen in various poses, not taking notes on history.

"_You think he can actually bend that far?"_ Atobe was hovering behind him.

"Because I saw you run away when he waved to you this morning," Kikumaru told him. "Wow, you're pretty good! Is that O'chibi?" Kikumaru asked and Tezuka shut his notebook with a snap.

"No, it's…" Tezuka didn't know what to say. "It is not."

"_Very articulate, Kunimitsu" _Atobe commented. _"You really need to increase your vocabulary."_

"It looked like O'chibi," Kikumaru insisted, reached over and tried to grab the notebook from his hand. Tezuka took it in his other hand, extending his arm and taking it far away from Kikumaru's reach, only to have the notebook snatched from his fingers. Tezuka turned to look at the person that had taken it. His teacher.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, frowning. "Exchanging notes during class? Drawing funny pictures of the teacher? Reading porn?"

Tezuka considered his options. If he told the truth, the teacher would look inside his notebook and see the drawings of Echizen in funny positions. He was actually pretty proud of his own skills in drawing. That still didn't mean he wanted the teacher or anyone else to see them.

"Kikumaru was attempting to copy my answers, sensei," Tezuka lied with out blinking.

"Kikumaru-kun?" the teacher blinked. "That is not like you, but if Tezuka-kun says so, it must be true."

"Whaaat?!" Kikumaru wailed. "Tezuka, nya, why are you lying? Is it because I saw O-"

"And it is not the first time either, sensei," Tezuka interrupted Kikumaru, who was staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

"But that's not true sensei, nya, Tezuka is lying, lying! Oishiii, help meee!!" Kikumaru yelled, pleading to his doubles partner who seemed to be in shock.

Oishi turned to the person sitting next to him. "What did you give him, Inui?"

The teacher heard Oishi's comment and turned around, dropping Tezuka's notebook on the floor. Tezuka quickly picked up the notebook, stuffed it in his bag and then turned to glare at Kikumaru, who gulped when he saw Tezuka's furious expression. "Not a word," Tezuka hissed.

"Who are you, you demon, and what have you done to Tezu-chan?" Kikumaru whispered, paling.

"Are you dealing drugs in my classroom, Inui-kun?" the teacher demanded to know in a loud voice. "You and Kikumaru-kun will go to the principal's office right this moment. I will not stand for this kind of delinquent behaviour in my class."

"But sensei!" Kikumaru jumped up from his seat.

Inui simply stood up slowly and after pushing his glasses up, answered, "Very well, sensei."

Tezuka heard muffled laughter and turned to his left where Fuji was sitting. Fuji had both his hands in front of his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing out loud. He turned to look at Tezuka and his eyes were sparkling with mirth.

"You are going to tell them Kikumaru wasn't really cheating, aren't you?" Fuji asked.

"Of course," Tezuka answered, not sure if he was lying again.

"_I didn't know there was such cruelty in you, Kunimitsu,"_ Atobe moved to stand next to Fuji. _"Maybe it's his influence. But not even Fuji would do something like that to a friend."_

Tezuka knew it was wrong to falsely accuse Kikumaru, but he did not have a choice, if he still wanted to keep his secret. Kikumaru could ruin it all by telling Fuji what he had seen. He would speak with Kikumaru later, explain, and ask him to keep quiet.

"What's really in your notebook?" Fuji asked, clearly curious.

"Porn," Tezuka said, not lying.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Fuji smiled. "I'm going to find out eventually."

"_And that's precisely what you're afraid of,"_ Atobe's smile mirrored the one on Fuji's face so perfectly that Tezuka shivered. It wasn't at all comforting to think the Atobe in his head had some Fuji qualities in it. _"Actually, it's all you,"_ Atobe chose to point out. And that fact wasn't comforting in any way.

When the teacher dismissed them Tezuka quickly gathered his books and hurried out off the classroom. He'd seen Oishi's worried glance, but didn't want to speak to him. He didn't want to speak with any of his friends, and wanting to be alone, he picked a section of the building he knew none of them had any today. He wondered if he could convince his parents to let him transfer to another school, where no one knew him. Where he wouldn't have to see Echizen, or Fuji, or Oishi, or Inui, or Kikumaru, or-

"_So this is your answer? Become a hermit?"_

It was better than getting abandoned by his friends because he wanted his best friend's boyfriend.

"_It's practically the same thing. And when exactly did Fuji become your best friend?" _

Fuji had always been a very close friend of his.

"_But he managed to climb up to the status of best friend only when it was angst worthy. Seriously Kunimitsu, you worry me sometimes with your strange way of thinking."_

A guy in a pink suit was hardly the person to tell him he had a strange way of thinking.

"_Let us all think long and hard on where did the guy with the pink suit appear from."_

"Oh, shut up," Tezuka muttered darkly.

"_This is getting old. Can't you think of something else to angst over? Look, there is a stain on your shirt! Angst over that, will you? And why the hell are you checking out that guy's ass? We can't cheat on Echizen!" _

"I'm not-! What do you mean cheat on Echizen? And we?" Tezuka still found it hard to remember that Atobe in a pink suit wasn't real and received some strange stares from the other students that were passing him in the hall. To his dismay he recognized Momoshiro amongst them.

"Tezuka-buchou," Echizen wasn't the only one who insisted on the buchou. The former second years still called him that, to the annoyance of the current tennis team captain. "Is Fuji-sempai cheating on Echizen?"

"No. Why? Did you hear anything?" Tezuka was disappointed at him self as he heard the hopeful tone in his voice.

"No, but you just…" Momoshiro's voice trailed off. He gave Tezuka a nervous grin and scratched the back of his neck. "Echizen said that you've been… Are you alright Tezuka-buchou?"

"_Would you like me to call the psych ward for you, is what he meant to add at the end of that sentence." _

"No," Tezuka said as he was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. "I'm not alright. I'm sick. Very, very sick. I think I'm coming down with something. Contagious. So I'm going home now and would you tell everyone not to come and see me because this is a very contagious and dangerous illness."

Momoshiro took a few steps back. "Sure Tezuka-buchou. What is it?"

"The flu," Tezuka said and when Momo looked disbelieving gave a fake cough.

"_Hardly worth an Oscar, that performance."_

"Shut up!" Tezuka yelled, walking away from Momo. He was starting be good at ignoring the weird looks people threw at him when he talked to himself.

* * *

Thankfully there wasn't anyone at the house when Tezuka came home. It was the first time in his life he was skipping school and the news would no doubt reach to his parents at some point, but not today. And by then maybe he would have thought of a better excuse than a fake flu. He just hoped it wouldn't be that he was seeing a man dressed in pink.

His parents were both working and today they wouldn't come back until very late. It was their anniversary and like every other year they went out to a restaurant and a movie. Some years they didn't come home at all until the next day. When Tezuka had been younger he'd always had a babysitter on those nights, but since Tezuka started high-school, they'd decided he was old enough to manage on his own.

"_You know it's not unthinkable that he might like you back. You saw how he looked at you like you were a can of Ponta and he'd had an unsatisfied craving for years."_ Tezuka wondered if an apparition could be delusional.

"_I am not the crazy one here! You were the one that twisted a drug that was meant to keep you straight and narrow in to me!"_ Tezuka lifted an eyebrow at that and Atobe flipped his hair and took out a small hand held mirror to gaze at his own reflection. _"Not that it is a bad thing having me. You are very lucky, to have a shining being such as myself in your head." _

Tezuka flopped down on the couch, opened the TV and sought the noisiest channel he could find, hoping he could drown out Atobe's voice. _"Echizen will come and visit, you know. He's going to be worried about his Buchou. And so will Fuji. They will probably come together, as a couple, holding hands, smiling at each other as lovingly as a newly wed pair."_ Tezuka increased the volume even more.

He sat there for what felt like hours, the TV only getting louder and louder until he finally gave up and turned it off. Once he did he heard the frantic ringing of the doorbell. Who ever was at the door might have been there for who knows how long, but Tezuka hadn't heard it because of the TV's yelling and Atobe's nagging.

Tezuka looked up and was surprised when he didn't see Atobe anywhere. Maybe the drug had worn off already?

Tezuka opened the front door and wished he'd stayed at school. He hadn't noticed it started raining, so focused he'd been on blocking out all the voices he heard.

In the rain stood Echizen, drenched, the clothes clinging on the boy's body, hair flattened on his head, lips trembling and blue from the cold, his whole body trembling, fingers gripping the straps of his bags so tightly they'd turned white. "Buchou," the boy whispered and smiled at him, swaying on his feet.

Tezuka grabbed Echizen before the boy fell, picked him up on his arms and carried the boy to the living room. Frantically looking around he saw a blanket on the arm-chair, grabbed it, sat on the couch, Echizen still in his lap and draped it around the boy.

Why was he there? Why had he stood in front of Tezuka's door so long and risked getting sick? It didn't make sense and Tezuka was mad at him for doing so.

He looked down when he felt a tug on his shirt. "Buchou," Echizen whispered. "You're not sick."

Tezuka opened his mouth to respond but could think of nothing to say. Had the boy risked getting sick simply because he thought Tezuka was sick. "You didn't answer the door so I was worried," Echizen whispered and closed his eyes.

Tezuka was shaking. Every part of his body trembled as he held back from screaming, crying, laughing, doing it all at once. He lifted an unsteady hand to gently stroke Echizen's cheek. The skin beneath Tezuka's fingers was cold, but still so wonderfully smooth. Even if Fuji had been standing there now that wouldn't have stopped Tezuka as he bent down and kissed the boy's cold lips.

Tezuka jolted when a hand went around his neck and the lips moved under his. He had thought Echizen asleep. But when Tezuka opened his eyes a pair of golden streaked brown ones stared at him.

Tezuka made an attempt to release Echizen, but the boy placed both his hands on Tezuka's neck and when Tezuka sat up, Echizen rouse with him so that the younger boy was sitting on Tezuka's lap, straddling him. Echizen seemed pleased with him self, smiled eyes half lidded and nuzzled his face against Tezuka's neck. Tezuka pulled him closer, buried his nose in the boy's wet hair, inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He'd been dreaming of this for so long. To be able to hold Echizen when even looking at him felt like a mortal sin was heaven.

He soon felt Echizen's breathe even out and realized the boy had fallen asleep. He still didn't know what the boy was doing here, but was too content to ask. So he drew the blanket tighter around them and lay down on the couch, Echizen still tightly held in his arms.

* * *

Tezuka woke, not realising he'd fallen asleep. He looked down to his lap to see Echizen resting his head on it, hand grasping on to Tezuka's shirt, eyes closed, probably still asleep.

Happiness spread through Tezuka and he trailed his fingers through Echizen's still damp hair. His hand froze in its movements when the boy opened his eyes, revealing he wasn't sleeping.

"You're finally awake, Buchou," the boy said with a smile, lifted his arm and curled his hand around Tezuka's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Tezuka didn't fight and allowed himself to drown in the feeling of Echizen's lips on his. When Echizen pulled away Tezuka let out a sound of protest and pulled the boy back. He was surprised when he found his lips pressed against the palm of the boy's hand.

"We should talk, Buchou," Echizen said and in an instant Tezuka remembered why he shouldn't be kissing the boy and pushed him off his lap and on to the floor.

"You should leave, Echizen," Tezuka said, standing up and refusing to turn and look at the boy even when he heard a sound that indicated the boy had been hurt by the fall.

"I'm not leaving and you can't make me," he heard the all too familiar stubborn tone from the floor and tried to suppress his smile into a frown.

"No, I suppose I can't," Tezuka said and saw in his mind the pleased and smug smile on Echizen's lips. "Lock up when you leave," he said and headed to the hallway where he put on his shoes.

"Buchou!" Echizen yelled after him but Tezuka ignored it and fled from his own home to the rain that was still pouring outside.

"_You just can't help but ruin everything." _Atobe had returned the moment Tezuka reached the end of their driveway.

"Go away!" Tezuka snapped and when Atobe's figure melted in to the rain, it revealed Echizen standing there in his stead. The boy looked shocked and hurt.

"I won't," Echizen muttered in a voice so low it was almost a growl. "It isn't just my fault, you kissed me too! You can't just run away!" He grabbed Tezuka's arm in a grip so forceful Tezuka grimaced from the pain.

"There is nothing to be gained from this, Echizen. We shouldn't-"

"Why not?!" Echizen was angrier than Tezuka had ever seen him and the rain that trickled down his face made it seem as if he was crying.

"Fuji," Tezuka thought the name would snap Echizen to his senses. Instead it only made him angrier.

"He's an idiot with a brother complex," the boy growled. "He hasn't talked about anything other than Yuuta since the accident. He doesn't have time for me, because he has to be there for _Yuuta_ in case _Yuuta_ needs anything."

Tezuka winced as Echizen grip around his arm tightened, but it didn't hurt as much as hearing that he was nothing more than a replacement for Fuji. When Echizen had come he had hoped for more. It was a ridiculous dream after all.

"Come back Buchou," Echizen eased his grip on Tezuka's arm and twined his fingers with Tezuka's. He smiled and nudged Tezuka towards the house.

Tezuka shook his head. He couldn't, not when it was obvious it wouldn't mean anything to Echizen.

"Why?!" Echizen yelled.

"I won't… I refuse to be used like that. And Fuji is a friend," Tezuka said.

"What are you talking about? I'm not using you, Buchou." Echizen sounded so sincere when he said it that Tezuka wanted to believe him, but the boy had just said it himself.

"You only want me because you can't have Fuji. I'm sorry Echizen, but being second choice… I cannot, will not settle for that, no matter how much…" Echizen was shaking his head frantically and kept tugging on his hand. Tezuka pried the boy's fingers from midst his own and stepped back from the boy. He fisted his hands to his sides so he wouldn't envelope the boy in his arms.

"I want you to leave," he said as his last words before turning his back on the boy. He didn't know where to go, but he could not go home. Echizen would have to go inside to get his things, and he feared that if he spent anymore time with the boy, his resolve would waver.

His clothes were no protection against the rain and he was soon shivering from the cold. He finally stopped once he realized he did not know where he was. He hadn't walked very far it seemed. The houses were still recognizable, and the street he was in was not that far from his house.

"You're not going to tell me I should go back?" Tezuka asked out loud though he knew he would not need to bother.

"_No."_

Tezuka sighed. "This never occurred to me. That he would see me as a… substitute."

There was no witty remark from Atobe and the apparition continued to simply stare at the rain with Tezuka.

* * *

When Tezuka came home he was alone again. Echizen was gone, only the damp blanket was left as proof he had ever been there. Tezuka found himself wishing for Atobe's company, despite the fact that he would have given almost anything to be rid of him when he was there.

His parents didn't return until very late but Tezuka still heard them, lying awake in his bed, trying to force sleep to take over his mind. He heard them laughing happily, couldn't help but wonder if he would have had the opportunity to achieve what they had if he had accepted to being a substitute to Echizen. Maybe he would have been able to make Echizen love him as time moved.

Tezuka had never minded solitude or craved for the company of others. But he'd never before felt lonely.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: The end. For this story. Comments/criticism appreciated.

* * *

Tezuka woke early, much earlier than he needed to, like every morning. His mother was sitting by the kitchen table, toast and a cup tea in front of her.

"Good morning Kunimitsu," she smiled at him.

"Morning mother," Tezuka said and sat across from his mother who frowned at him.

"What has happened to your face, Kunimitsu? Your eye, it's…"

"I tripped yesterday," Tezuka told her.

"Tripped, Kunimitsu?" his mother raised an eyebrow. "Your father is right. Be careful what you wish for, because you might end up getting it."

"What are you talking about," Tezuka asked her.

She took a deliberately long sip of her tea before answering. "It's just something I mentioned, nothing important," she shrugged, but Tezuka kept staring at her demandingly. "It gives me the creeps when you look at me like your grandfather, Kunimitsu. Oh, very well. I just expressed my desire for you to lighten up a little, be a normal kid like others your age."

Tezuka was a little depressed to hear his mother didn't think he was a normal teenager.

"_Did you think you were?"_ Atobe's question did raise a good point. Tezuka had never considered himself as a normal teenager. He had always known he was far more mature than other boys his age. _"You mean repressed, not mature. Not the same thing. Mostly, anyway." _

"But I never expected you to go out and get yourself in a fight. And loose."

"A fight! I haven't been fighting!" Tezuka shouted, amazed that his mother would draw a conclusion like that simply because he had a small bruise.

"_A small bruise? Have you looked in the mirror?"_ It wasn't a big bruise, just a little one at the corner of his eye. _"Still a black eye."_

Tezuka gave Atobe a glare, and was about to argue with the apparition, but then he realized what else his mother had said. "And why do you presume I have lost?" he asked.

"When your father used to get into fights, he never got hurt. Or lost." his mother shrugged. "Did you win then, dear?"

"I haven't been fighting, mom," Tezuka said.

"Oh," his mother said. "That's a shame. Stayed up all night drinking? You look like you haven't gotten much sleep." There was a hopeful tone in her voice.

"No mother, I just… had some bad dreams," he muttered.

"Oh… well that's something. Teen angst," she seemed to brighten at the thought. "Be sure to eat a good breakfast then Kunimitsu, I need to hurry to work," she said and kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, and I almost forgot. I found this on the kitchen table. Is it yours?" She gave him a slip of paper that only had one simple statement on it; _'You're wrong.'_

"Yes, thank you mother," Tezuka said, guessing the note was from Echizen.

"Is it important?"

The paper was crumpled and the ink smeared. Tezuka had no reason to believe it had been caused by anything other then the rain "No, it's nothing," Tezuka mumbled and folded the piece of paper and placed it in his pocket.

* * *

"Tezuka!"

Tezuka stopped and turned slowly to look at Fuji who had yelled at him from across the hallway and was now making his way towards him. Tezuka tried to read Fuji's face, but there was nothing, not even the usual serene smile on Fuji's face. And maybe that fact alone, the lack of the smile indicated something.

"Good morning, Fuji," Tezuka said when the other boy stopped before him.

"What did you do to Ryoma, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, his eyes narrowed.

Tezuka considered lying, but knew Fuji would probably see through it. He could either ignore the question or tell Fuji the truth. Maybe it was time for the truth. "What do you mean?" Later.

"_Chicken."_

Fuji frowned at him. "You're being evasive. You did do something."

"Did something happen between you and Echizen?" Tezuka asked and ignored Atobe as the apparition attempted to do a lame impression of a chicken, _"Cluck, cluck, cluck!"_

Fuji glared at him, but having known the other boy for years, and even though he was shaking on the inside, Tezuka managed to keep his exterior as stoic as ever. Still looking at him suspiciously, Fuji decided to answer him. "He came to my house looking like a wet kitten and broke up with me in front of my whole family, mumbling something about you. And he accused me of being too obsessed with Yuuta, but Yuuta is hurt, I need to be by his side in case he needs anything."

"He… he… really?"

"What is wrong with you Tezuka? You were there when Yuuta was hurt."

Tezuka blinked and Atobe laughed. _"He really does have a brother complex. Perhaps the brat wasn't lying."_ Even if Echizen had spoken the truth about Fuji that did not change the fact that all Tezuka was to him was a substitute, until Fuji had time for him again. _"But you heard him. The brat broke up with him. That must mean something, and the note. Go find the brat, run!" _

"Isn't Yuuta staying at his school's dorm?" Tezuka asked.

"But there is no one to take care of him properly; he has no real friends there!" Fuji shouted, a little more dramatically than was necessary. Tezuka remembered just in time not to remind Fuji that most of Yuuta's former team mates from St. Rudolph had also gone to the same high school as Yuuta, as that would inevitably bring up a certain former manager to Fuji's mind. Mizuki was not a subject any sane person wanted to discuss with Fuji. Even Inui didn't dare to bring up that subject anymore.

"Maybe I have been a little more focused on Yuuta since his accident, but that is no reason to break up with me. Yuuta is family, Ryoma should understand that." Fuji looked at Tezuka, as if expecting him to agree.

"_You shouldn't answer that if you value your life. Not honestly anyway."_

"Fuji, I need to tell you something."

"_Are you insane?! He will kill you! Just go and meet the brat after school, you can sneak of somewhere and no one gets hurt!"_

"I can't keep lying," Tezuka looked directly at Atobe as he spoke.

"What are you talking about Tezuka? And what are you looking at?"Fuji turned to look to his left where he saw nothing, but where Tezuka saw Atobe waving his hands and shaking his head. "We can talk later, can't we? Class is about to start."

As he looked around him Tezuka saw that the other students were already heading towards their class rooms, and nodded. "Alright." Tezuka figured he could wait till lunch. It would give him time to think about how to tell Fuji all he needed to.

Kikumaru was sitting next to him at class, and kept turning his head from the teacher, to Tezuka, to stare at him. With a frown. A disapproving frown.

"Are you trying to cheat of Tezuka-kun again, Kikumaru-kun?" The teacher yelled. "Eyes on the board, Kikumaru-kun!"

"Yes sensei! I mean no sensei! I'm keeping my eyes on Tezuka! I mean cheating on you! No cheating! No sensei!" Kikumaru screamed, and finally slapped his hands to his mouth, to keep himself quiet. When the teacher finally stopped glaring at him, Kikumaru leaned over to Tezuka, and whispered, "Even if you're seeing guys in pink suits, I won't let you hurt Fujiko, nya." Kikumaru stared at him, wiggling his eyebrows and twitching his right eye. It took Tezuka a while to realize Kikumaru was attempting to look threatening.

"Kikumaru-kun! Do I have to send you back to the principal's office?"

"No sensei! Sorry sensei!" Kikumaru shouted, but when the teacher's gaze was averted, he hissed at Tezuka, seemingly imitating Kaidoh.

Tezuka made sure the teacher wasn't paying attention to them before speaking to Kikumaru. "I don't know what you are talking about, Kikumaru. I am not seeing pink men."

"_Excuse me? I am wearing a pink suit! I am not pink!"_ Atobe shrieked.

"But Inui said so!" Kikumaru had a talent for shouting, while whispering.

"Well Inui lied."

"Inui doesn't lie!"

"Sure he does, all the time," Tezuka said, but noticed from Kikumaru's expression that he wasn't convincing the other boy. He decided to try a different approach. "Look Kikumaru. Who are you going to believe? Someone who stalks people for useless data, or the person who will be your team captain next year?"

"_Extortion? I'm shocked. And somewhat proud."_

Kikumaru paled and gulped. "You're right Tezuka. Inui lies all the time. All the time!"

Tezuka nodded, satisfied. Now he only had Fuji to deal with. He glanced to his left where Fuji was sitting. Oddly enough, the boy wasn't paying any attention to either of them. Instead he was staring out off the window, resting his chin on his palm, looking forlorn. With a pang of guilt, Tezuka realised the boy had probably been thinking of Echizen.

"Fuji," Tezuka spoke his name softly, and Fuji turned to look at him, his brilliant blue eyes dulled with sadness, and the gentle smile Tezuka was used to Fuji greeting him with was gone.

"Do you think he's thinking about me, Tezuka?" Fuji asked. "I should call him during lunch, don't you think?"

Tezuka wondered why Fuji would call Echizen, when the junior high building was right next door and Fuji could just visit the boy during lunch.

"I have to make sure he's eating something," Fuji said. "He didn't sound good last night. Yuuta never eats properly when he's sick."

Tezuka didn't know what to say. He could only think of one thing. Fuji didn't deserve to have Echizen.

* * *

When it was time for lunch, the time Tezuka had told himself he would speak to Fuji about everything, he couldn't find Fuji anywhere.

"_He's probably calling Yuuta." _Tezuka knew there was a big probability of Atobe being right, and wondered why he wished Fuji had gone off in search of Echizen instead. No matter how much that would not be in his favour, he would rather Echizen be happy with the person he truly wanted to be with, than settle for less. And if the person Echizen truly wanted wasn't him, but Fuji, as he feared, he would gladly let the two be happy.

"_That's a big fat lie, and you know it," _Atobe snorted, and Tezuka was too tired to argue with Atobe.

Settling on the fact that he would have to wait for when school would end he took out his bento and prepared to eat when Kikumaru yelled, "O'chibi! You here to see Fuji? Right? To see your loving boyfriend!" Kikumaru stared at Tezuka when he yelled out the last sentence.

Tezuka lifted his gaze from his food to the door and saw the boy standing there. It seemed the boy hadn't had an easy night either. His eyes were red and the usual bored expression on his face had changed to that of a depressed indifference. The boy looked straight at Tezuka and the strength of that stare, the emotion in it left Tezuka breathless. It was not the first time he received a look like that from the boy, but it was the first time he saw it outside of a tennis court. Had Echizen always looked at him like that? Had he looked at the boy with that same passion in his eyes?

"I'm here to talk to Buchou, Kikumaru-sempai," Echizen said and stepped towards Tezuka.

"Noooo!" Kikumaru yelled and sprung up from his seat to place himself between the two. "You don't want to talk to Tezuka! He has dirty thoughts about you!"

"Eiji!" Oishi yelled from where he was sitting, a few desks away. The rest of the class turned to stare at the group.

Kikumaru darted to Tezuka's bag and took out Tezuka's notebook. He moved too fast for Tezuka, who tried to stop the redhead from showing the notebook to Echizen. "See!" Kikumaru yelled, opening the notebook and showing Echizen what was inside.

Echizen stared at what he was watching and finally smirked. "Hmmm, Buchou's got nice handwriting."

"Nice handwriting! You see those pictures and say nice handwriting!" Kikumaru screamed and turned the notebook to see what the boy was looking at. "Oh. Wrong page," Kikumaru said, ruffled through the pages and showed it to Echizen again, a winning grin on his face.

Echizen's cheeks slowly turned red, and Tezuka saw his hand search for his absent cap. Finally the boy looked up, locked eyes with Tezuka and mumbled, "You're pretty good, Buchou. Maybe you should study art."

"But, but…" Kikumaru spluttered. "That's all?!" Kikumaru's slumped down to sit on the closest desk.

"That's my lunch you're sitting on, Kikumaru-kun!" A girl screamed and slapped him.

Kikumaru held his cheek and stared at the girl with watery eyes, looking like he was going to cry any minute.

"Eiji!" Oishi yelled and ran to his doubles partner's side. "You didn't have to be so mean! Can't you see he's upset?" Oishi asked the girl and drew Kikumaru in his embrace.

"I… I'm sorry Oishi-kun," the girl mumbled and hung her head. Tezuka knew exactly how she felt. Oishi could make even a stone feel guilty.

"Buchou," Echizen breathed and Tezuka's full attention was on the boy again. Echizen was biting his lip and twitching.

Tezuka noticed that even though the sobbing Kikumaru and his comforter Oishi had gained the attention of most of the class, some still looked at him and Echizen with interest.

"_And just think of the rumours tomorrow!"_ Atobe sounded pleased. There was nothing good about this whole episode. _"Oh, I disagree. Think about the entertainment value. Tezuka Kunimitsu, the exemplary student, the boy every parent wishes their son was, reveals to be a pervert who has dirty thoughts about his junior."_

Oh Kami-sama, he really was in hell. _"Enjoy the ride,"_ Atobe smirked. _"You might as well go the whole way and give the boy a good, long kiss in front f the class. Go on, make it a Hollywood worthy happy ending." _

"We should go somewhere private to talk," Tezuka said.

"_Fine, ruin all my fun."_

Echizen had also become aware of their audience, and nodded. "I have the keys to the club house," he told Tezuka.

Tezuka nodded and when Echizen left, Tezuka followed him.

As they walked through the school building, only a few students noticed them, but none paid much attention to them, even if it wasn't very common to see a junior high school student in the high school building with a high school student.

When they arrived at the club house, Echizen took the keys from his pocket and placed him self in front of the door. When the door did not open as Tezuka had thought, he stepped forward to see Echizen's hands shake too much so that the boy could have opened the door, or even to place the key in the lock. Tezuka placed his hands on Echizen's, and directed them so they placed the key in to the lock together. He asserted gentle pressure on Echizen's hands, and together they turned the key. The click echoing in Tezuka's ears symbolized the beginning of something new, a change in his life.

What that change would bring with it, that he did not know, neither did he know if it would be good or bad, but knew that he could no longer turn back. And as he felt Echizen's hand on his when he placed it on the door handle, he did not wish to turn back, because he knew Echizen would be a part of that change.

Together they opened the door and it swung open to reveal the dim locker room, hardly changed at all from the time Tezuka had last seen it. Echizen turned to face him, but didn't step back, so they were nearly pressed together in the doorway. The boy raised a hand and curled it around Tezuka's arm, much in the same way as last night, but refused to look up to his eyes. "I wasn't lying," Echizen said just as Tezuka spoke,

"I spoke with Fuji."

Echizen's head snapped up and he stared at Tezuka, eyes round. "What did Fuji-sempai say?" he asked.

"That you… broke up with him. Why?" Tezuka took hold of the boy's shoulders and looked in to his eyes. Echizen scowled, shook free of Tezuka's grip and stepped inside the locker room, leaving Tezuka no choice but to follow him. "Why did you come to my house yesterday, Echizen? Was it just to ease your hurt, have someone want you when Fuji preferred his brother's company over yours?"

"It wasn't, but to you it's all the same, isn't it?" Echizen sat on one of the benches and tugged on the fabric of his pants and glared at the floor. "I like you, Buchou," the boy muttered.

"Then why are you with Fuji?" Tezuka closed the door and refused to move form where he stood, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Was, Buchou, was!" Echizen yelled and finally lifted his head to look at him. "And… he asked when you couldn't even stand to be in the same room with me! When ever I showed up you left! I thought you hated me!"

"I didn't. I never hated you."

"What else was I supposed to think? You kept avoiding me. I thought you'd figured out that I like you and that's why you… That you were disgusted or something…" the boy's voice faded away and his eyes returned to the floor.

Tezuka couldn't stand it, the hurt in Echizen's voice so he went to the boy, hesitated once he stood before him but finally sat down on the bench, on Echizen's right. The silence would have no doubt stretched for ages if not, _"For fuck's sake, at least hold his hand, if you're too much of a prude to kiss him!" _Atobe would have gotten a glare if Tezuka had not suddenly decided that his words held the truth. He had been suppressing his own needs for too long, always putting others before him, doing the correct thing, not what he knew was right. And last night, kissing Echizen had felt right.

All Echizen managed to get out was a muffled shout, that soon turned into a satisfied hum as Tezuka took his mouth in to a fierce kiss, and pulled the younger boy against him. He was soon lost in the way Echizen felt, how the boy's hands on his body felt, how he tasted of rice and cherry flavoured bubblegum. Breaking the kiss Tezuka spoke against the boy's lips, "This is why I avoided you. I was afraid I couldn't control myself around you. You were so young, someone who shouldn't be bothered by my feelings. I was never disgusted by you."

"I know that," Echizen smirked at him and pulled away. "Why do you think I came last night?"

"You do? But… Since when?" Tezuka asked. He had been so careful not to let it show, how the boy affected him, that when Echizen suddenly claimed to have known, Tezuka couldn't help but be curious.

"The day before yesterday," Echizen said. "After our game. I knew you wanted to kiss me, I just didn't know why you didn't."

"Fuji," Tezuka spoke the name that he was ready to curse. His friend that had been the obstacle between him and the one thing he craved for more than anything else in life.

"I know. That's why I broke up with him," Echizen smiled at him and stood up. "We should get back to class, Buchou. We can-"

"Ryoma-kun, are you here?" Fuji asked right before he stepped inside the clubroom. "Tezuka? Why are you here?"

"Fuji-sempai, what are you doing here?"

"I've come to see you, of course," Fuji answered, walked over to Echizen and leaned forward to kiss him. The boy placed his hands on Fuji's chest and stepped back, making Fuji blink in surprise.

"We broke up, Fuji-sempai," Echizen frowned.

"And I've come to apologize so we can make up." Fuji looked confused as Echizen stepped back, instead of in to his arms. "That's why you're here, isn't it? So I could come and apologize." Fuji frowned.

Echizen shook his head and looked at Tezuka who spoke. "I have to tell you something, Fuji."

But before he could continue Echizen spoke again. "I like Buchou, Fuji-sempai. I went to his house yesterday and I told him I like him. I kissed him and he kissed me back."

Fuji's hands fell to his sides and he glanced at Tezuka with narrowed eyes, before turning back to speak to Echizen. "Was this before or after you came to speak with me?" he asked, fisting his hands.

Tezuka saw Echizen hesitate between telling the truth and lying, so he stepped forward and answered in the boy's stead. "Before."

"Is this what you wanted to tell me, Tezuka?" Fuji asked. "That my boyfriend's been cheating on me with you?"

"I'm not your boyfriend anymore, Fuji-sempai!" Echizen yelled.

"No you're not, because he stole you from me!" Fuji pointed at Tezuka.

"No he didn't, you lost me!" Echizen screamed. "You think I want to be second place to your brother!"

"And how do you think I felt every time I saw you slump when I mentioned Tezuka?" Fuji yelled. "At least Yuuta is honest with me, I know how he feels! You… You never once told me…" Fuji framed Echizen's face with his hands and silenced his voice to a mere whisper. "Come with me and after school we'll go home and forget all about this nonsense. Wouldn't that be nice? I'll be with you and won't even call Yuuta to see how he's doing. Isn't that what you wanted?!" Fuji nearly screamed his final question, his hold only getting tighter, making Echizen wince.

Tezuka stepped in between them, took hold off Fuji's wrists and spoke in a calm voice. "Stop it, Fuji."

Fuji allowed Tezuka to remove his hands from Echizen's face and turned his gaze from Echizen to Tezuka. "You kissed him?" Tezuka couldn't bear to look at Fuji in the eyes when he nodded. "You know the time I locked you in the closet? I thought if nothing happened then, it would never happen. It was a test you both passed, and I thought it'd be safe to make myself vulnerable. I guess you failed after all, huh?"

"Fuji…" It was all he could get out. How could he explain that without his crazy neighbour, nothing probably would have ever happened? That Tezuka had been prepared to live his whole life pining after Echizen.

"You were testing me?" Echizen asked, sounding furious. "And when you asked him with us to play tennis that was another test?"

"I had no choice," Fuji answered. "I saw the way you acted, I know you, knew that if there was the slightest chance he would… But Yuuta got hurt, I got distracted."

"You could have just asked me, Fuji-sempai," Echizen said.

"And you could have told me." Fuji responded, looking from one boy to the other. "That's it then? Not only did I loose a boyfriend, but a friend too."

"You don't have to-" Echizen started to say, only to be cut off by Fuji.

"You think I can trust either one of you after this? It's probably my own fault for even starting anything with you, knowing how you felt about Tezuka, but," he shrugged. "I never honestly thought he was even capable of feelings like that and if he was… Who would have ever thought he'd act on them like a normal human being?"

It hurt Tezuka to hear that was what Fuji thought of him. He would have expected words like that from any of his class mates, but had thought Fuji knew him better. _"He probably does. No human has ever taken rejection easily."_ Perhaps Atobe was right, but that did not lessen the hurt he felt.

"I'm sorry, Fuji," he said as the boy was already at the exit of the club house.

Fuji turned, the smile on his face was a different, sadder version of the one he wore everyday. "I'll probably forgive the both of you, eventually, but until then… Just don't come near me."

Fuji left a chill in the clubroom after him and it lingered there, numbing Tezuka. He felt warmth returning to his body when two arms surrounded him and a head was placed on his shoulder. Tezuka circled Echizen's waist with his arms and pulled the boy closer. His life could turn to hell; he didn't care, because he could bare it, as long as he had Echizen.

"_Well, aren't you going to thank me?" _


	5. Chapter 5

Tezuka closed the club room door behind him after checking everything was in order and making sure no one else was still inside. He was only a second year, and not even the vice-captain of the tennis club, but still he found himself burdened with responsibilities, that his sempais weighed him with.

Tezuka locked the door and allowed himself a brief moment to ponder on his life.

It wasn't perfect, far from it. His friends didn't know how to react when they discovered that Echizen was no longer with Fuji, but with their buchou. Oishi's disappointment was hardest to bear; Oishi had always believed Tezuka was better than he was. Kikumaru was pulled between his hurt for Fuji and fondness for Echizen. The redhead's wish to have everyone happy was making him miserable, as his friends were divided by the love triangle, that none of them had known even existed, until it erupted in their midst.

Atobe hadn't vanished from his head after the confrontation with Fuji as he had thought, and Atobe had assured him he would. Atobe had claimed it was because Tezuka still needed to become a more open person. Tezuka figured the drug his neighbour had produced was faulty. Inui might have agreed with him, or given him a more accurate explanation if Tezuka had been willing to elaborate him with the details, but he did not wish to give Inui anymore data. But after two weeks Tezuka had seriously considered calling Inui to ask for the number of his uncle that was a therapist, but luckily Atobe vanished before he was forced to take such severe action.

But still, every time Tezuka saw Atobe anywhere, he had the urge to poke him, just to make sure he was really there, and not a figment of his imagination.

And despite all that, Tezuka was happy, because of the one thing in his life that was perfect.

"Buchou," someone called from behind him. Tezuka turned, and a smile appeared on his face. Those who had known him the longest would have been surprised at the easiness of the smile, but it was a familiar sight for the boy who had caused it.

"Not yet." Tezuka said.

"But soon," the boy smirked. "Did they leave the club room keys to you again?"

"Yes." Tezuka knew what the boy was thinking, and the thought had crossed his mind several times after he had first received the duty of locking up.

"We can't go to my place. The stupid old man is already asking if I'm seeing someone."

"My parents are already home." Tezuka said.

"What's the use of having all the responsibility, if you can't take advantage of at least a couple of the perks?" a raised eyebrow. "Besides, I think Ryuzaki-sensei is starting to get suspicious. We can't use the junior high's club room anymore."

"You still talking?" Tezuka asked, keeping the door open for his companion.


End file.
